A rocket-propelled grenade (“RPG”) is generally a weapon system comprised of a rocket having an explosive warhead. Certain RPGs are designed to be portable so that it may be easily carried and shoulder-fired by a person. These features combined with low production cost make the RPG a weapon seen frequently in conflicts throughout the world.
Various static systems for defending against RPG attacks have been designed that include, for example, steel grilles, bar/slat, and chain link. All of these systems suffer from various deficiencies including limited effectiveness as well as excessive weight, cost, installation time, manual assembly and difficulty of repair.
One such system can be seen at U.S. Pat. No. 9,052,167 to Farinella et al. According to the RPG shield of Farinella, netting supports a spaced array of hard points. Each hard point is constructed of a base portion including a cavity for receiving a post or plug. The netting is hand assembled by positioning and aligning the netting element within the cavity of the base portion and forcing the plug into the cavity to secure the netting in place. Optimally configured, the hard points are designed to dig into the nose cone of an RPG and dud it while the netting is compliant to prevent the RPG from detonating.
While the prior art fulfills its respective particular objectives and requirements, the manufacturing process is expensive and complicated requiring separately machined parts and assembly of two-piece hard points.
A need remains for an improved RPG shield netting and methods of manufacture that simplifies assembly processes, reduces costs, and improves effectiveness. The present invention satisfies this need.